


How to overcome the fear of water?

by loulougoingsolo



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Fantasy, M/M, Merdogs, Merpeople, Romance, Walks On The Beach, fear of water
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 02:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9636332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loulougoingsolo/pseuds/loulougoingsolo
Summary: For over thirty years, Link Neal has felt there's something missing from his life. There's a hole in his heart that needs to be filled, but he doesn't quite know how. When he reluctantly takes his dog Jade to the beach, despite his dislike and fear of water, he has a life changing mythical experience.- A Mildly Fishy Fairytale about The Creatures of The Sea -





	

It wasn’t until very much later in life, that Link came to remember the curious events from his early childhood. He went trough puberty, college and a significant career as an engineer never thinking about that day. All that was left in his memory about the day, when he nearly drowned in the Pacific ocean, was a terrible fear of drowning whenever he got submerged in water. Until his late thirties, that fear kept him away from all pools of water. He never dipped himself in the ocean, and he hated bath tubs. But he had learned to live on land and so he did, until that day it all came back to him.

Link severly disliked the beach. He only came here for one reason, and that reason was his baby dog, Jade. Jade was an adorable little creature, but unlike her owner, she loved the ocean. She didn’t know anything quite as enjoyable as frolicking at the water line, getting splashed by the waves and tasting the salty droplets of water on her nose. If it wasn’t for Jade, Link would never have come to the beach. He liked the desert.

But watching Jade was one of the few joys in his un-eventful life. Here he was, 38 years old, single and miserable. He was great at his job at a reputable computer company, he had all the money he could ever need, a nice house at a good location…but no actual life. When was the last time he went on a date? He couldn’t remember. He only adopted Jade to meet the ladies, but now, two years later, Jade was the only female being in his life. He loved Jade, without a doubt, but he longed for that true love other people kept talking about. There was a hole in his heart, as if a part of him was missing, and he so wanted to fill it with someone.

Being forced to come out of his deep thoughts, Link turned his head towards the water line, where Jade was barking frantically at something. There was a large something, being flushed by the waves, just where the water met the white sand. At first Link thought it was a dolphin - they were known to be washed to the shore sometimes - but as he walked closer, he realized it was something else. When he saw the beam of sunlight reflect from what appeared to be a lock of golden hair, his heart dropped with horror. Was it a person? And then he ran.

As soon as he got to the water line, he ordered Jade to back off and took a closer look at whatever was laying in front of him. He saw a tall, tan man with curly golden hair and a majestic beard. The man’s upper torso was bare, and Link saw a worryingly large wound under his chest. A trickle of blood was running down his side, mixing with the ocean water. Feeling concerned and anxious, Link moved his eyes lower on the man’s body to see if anything else was injured.

‘What the crap?!’ he yelled, confused, as he stared at where the man’s legs should have been. Instead of seeing normal legs and feet, he saw a…a tail? A fish tail, only bigger than any fish tail he’d ever seen. It was covered with shining, silver and blueish scales, which made the lower part of the mans body sparkle like a huge pile of diamonds. It was a glorious sight, but what the hell was it? Link swallowed nervously, as he thought to himself:‘Is that a mermaid? No, a merman of course, that is not a female!’

Link carefully reached his hand to touch the weird creature in front of him, and as his fingers gently touched the bearded face, the creature opened his eyes, grunting silently as he turned his head to look at Link. The mysterious green eyes seemed to look straight into Link’s soul, and he quickly pulled his hand away, as if burned by the heat radiating from the merman’s skin.

‘Please, help me!’ said the merman, ‘You need to pull me out of the water, before the sharks come back!’ Then he closed his eyes and appeared to lose his conciousness. Link, feeling restless at the closeness of the water and possible sharks, didn’t hesitate for a second. He was smaller than the sea creature, but he was fit. The panic gave him superhuman strength, and with ease, he pulled the fishtailed man ashore.

‘Now what am I supposed to do?’ Link thought to himself, staring at the merman. The sun was scorching his neck, and he was concerned about the creature’s ability to survive on dry land. However, to his amazement, he suddenly saw the glistening tail start to turn into human feet and in no more than a blink of an eye, he was looking at a naked, tall man. A man, who was still bleeding, but who also happened to be quite a sight with his long lean legs. This unfamiliar sight made Link just a little confused, but he brushed the strange emotions aside, when he saw Jade going at the bearded man’s face, licking his forehead the way dogs do. 'Come on, Jade! Don’t do that!’

He didn’t have the time to pull Jade away, when the now-full-human merman opened his eyes again. 'It’s okay, I like dogs. Thank you, Link, for saving my life.’

The merman looked at Link again, with his amazing eyes. Link couldn’t help but blush under his gaze. 'How do you know who I am?’ he asked, more confused than ever.

'I guess it would be unfair to expect you to remember me’, said the stranger, as he slowly moved into a sitting position. Was his chest starting to heal? Link could hardly believe his eyes. 'We’ve met before. I’m Rhett. 30 years ago I saved you from drowning in the ocean.’

Link looked at the merm…at Rhett with amazement. A faint memory from distant childhood was starting to emerge. A vacation by the beach, Nana telling him not to swim too far…But he had seen a really pretty shell in the bottom of the ocean, and he’d really wanted to take it to his Nana, so he swam further…The memories were flooding in his mind now, the current having taken him too far, him getting too tired to fight the waves, then passing out…He remembered having woken up in his deck chair next to Nana, holding that pretty shell in his hand, after a sweet dream about mermaids and a golden boy about his age. That wasn’t a dream? How could he have forgotten all about it?

He looked back at Rhett, remembering now the warmth he had felt in his heart that day years ago, waking up from that dream. This was that same golden dreamboy, but now he was a beautiful golden man, staring intensively at Link with a warm smile on his face. Link felt the warmth of the sun slowly spread through his skin, all the way to his soul, warming up every corner of his body and mind. He felt the strange connection, formed years ago on that strange day at the beach, emerging again as the hole in his heart started to fill up and close. All of a sudden, he felt whole again, for the first time in a very long time.

'I remeber now,’ he said, 'You’re my soulmate. I’ve been looking for you all my life.’ Link reached his hand to touch Rhett’s face again, and he saw a small tear form in Rhett’s eye, ball up and run down his cheek. 'And I’ve waited so long for you to come back.’ Rhett smiled through his tears and grabbed the smaller man into his arms, embracing him tightly.

Link slowly started to realize his whereabouts, and the fact he was standing at an empty (thank god for that) beach, being held by an overly tall naked man, and being stared at by a silent tiny dog. He blushed thoroughly and pulled away from Rhett’s arms.

'What are we supposed to do now?’ he asked the tall man, who appeared to carry all the wisdom of the world in his mind. Rhett picked Jade up from the sand, into his arms, and gave her a little smooch. Then he reached his arm to pull Link back to him, laughed heartfeltedly and said:’ All you need to do is love me and kiss me, and you’ll turn into a merman just like me.’ Link’s heart was full of hope, but he still hesitated:'But what about Jade? I can’t leave her!’ Rhett lifted Jade higher in his arm, so she could reach to lick his face again. 'Don’t worry, silly! Jade already loves me, now she’s kissing me, and well, she will love my merdog, Barbara, too. I told you I like dogs, didnt I?’

Link hesitated no more. He raised his eyes to look at Rhett once more, gave him a long, loving smooch, and smiled. This was all he had ever hoped for, and it was perfect. Rhett lowered Jade back to the ground, grabbed Link’s silly t-shirt by the chest, and in one swift move, tore it apart. 'Now, let’s go for a dip in the ocean’, he murmured and ran away. Link watched him dive into the waves, quickly undressed himself, and joined him with Jade loyally by his side. Never again was Link afraid of the water, as for now, he had love to keep him safe. 

The end.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my fairytale! Please, leave your comments below, and tell me what you think about this kind of stuff. I'm quite new to R&L, and the idea of writing fanfics has always been foreign to me, but I was too inspired by them to stop myself from writing. My main inspiration for this story came from the beautiful art by Jannelle-o at http://jannelle-o.tumblr.com/ , and of course from GMM episode #781.
> 
> I go by the same name in Tumblr, and there are some other Rhink-related texts to read there. I will propably post them here at some point, but they may need some editing and rewriting first, but feel free to check them out if you want :).


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